3 Reasons Why You Need a Brand Style Guide

A brand guide is the guidebook every company needs. The brand style guide refers to the logo, font, color scheme, and every design aspect your company needs to create a constant look. Without one, your company can look very inconsistent and unprofessional. All companies need a brand, or style, guide to be successful. Here are 3 reasons why you should invest in a brand guide.

1. Become Recognizable

Especially for small businesses and startups, getting your name out there – and being remembered – is half the battle.

Highly successful companies have instantly recognizable branding. For example, when you are driving down the highway and you see those two golden arches, you know that means there’s a McDonalds nearby. Many of the most recognized brands are easily identifiable by their logo.

The iconic golden arches, were a great branding strategy in getting the McDonald’s brand to become a household name. Source: http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/newsroom/image_and_video_library/logos.html

The logo is the face of your company, so it is a great place to start when you create a style guide. Once you decide what mascot, letter, or object you want to represent your company, you can start putting that logo everywhere to get your brand in front of people.

2. Create Consistency

Evident by the name, a style guide is there to create the style you want your packaging, labels, website, and stores to look like. Marketing 101 would state it as your “consistent look and feel” you want to convey to your customers. Style guides are there to get all of your jumbled thoughts into one cohesive idea.

The brand guide will help you decide from what colors will look best to when you should use a title instead of a subheading. This guide streamlines your brand and makes it look more professional. It also helps your customers focus on your product rather than the colorful mess of mismatching fonts on your website.

This is your chance to have fun and decide what fonts, words, and colors you want associated with your brand.

Online store ModCloth’s brand guide features bright colors and feminine fonts that appeal to their target female audience. Source: http://blog.modcloth.com/2013/05/16/a-peek-at-our-style-guide/

3. Make it Easier on You

Even if all of these thoughts on fonts, colors, headings and logos seems daunting, it is only there to help. Instead of worrying if your subheadings should be Helvetica or Comic Sans or Heading 2 or Heading 3, you can easily look back and see what you have set up and know exactly where everything goes.

Employees, contractors, or anyone else who creates marketing material also have an easier job. They are able to follow specific guidelines and create appropriate materials to represent your company. Now you can focus on improving your brand and products instead of trying to decide what logo to use and where.

If you do not need anymore convincing but need more personal help on where to start, Craveity specializes in branding services and would love to help you get on your way.